ORLANDO- The No. 20 UCF women's tennis team returns home this weekend for a weekend of Big 12 play at the USTA National Campus.
After a weekend on the road in Arizona, UCF looks to carry momentum from a top-25 victory back to Orlando as it continues conference play. The Knights will host No. 51 Colorado on Friday, March 13 at 6 PM before facing No. 30 Texas Tech on Sunday, March 15, at noon.
LAST TIME OUT
The Knights split a challenging road trip in Arizona last weekend, opening with a loss to No.73 Arizona before bouncing back with a statement 4-3 win over No.12 Arizona State in Tempe.
In Tucson, Arizona secured the doubles point to open the match, but Lauren Seye answered quickly in singles play, earning the Knights' first point (6-3, 6-2). The Wildcats responded, taking the lead, until captain Jantje Tilbuerger secured court two with a 6-3, 6-3 win, evening the score at 2-2. After Vladislava Andreevskaya fell short, Marina Gatell kept the Knights alive with a three-set win, 2-6, 7-5, 6-2. The match ultimately came down to the final court, where Jade Psonka battled through but fell in a second-set tiebreak, giving Arizona the win.
UCF regrouped in Tempe, by starting quick and securing the lead in doubles play. Andreevskaya and Psonka secured the first doubles point (7-5), while Olivia Bergler and Seye clinched the point with another 7-5 win. Arizona State responded quickly in singles, taking courts one, three and five to jump ahead 3-1. Psonka gave the Knights fuel, claiming a three-set victory (0-6, 6-3, 6-3). Andreevskaya followed with a comeback of her own (1-6, 6-2, 6-4). With the match on the line, Tilbuerger delivered the clincher on court two, winning 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 to seal UCF’s first top-25 victory of the season and hand the Sun Devils their first Big 12 home loss of the year.